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Description

Nearly 40 years after the final Gemini flight, a Titan II once again carries crew to orbit, this time aboard HMX's XV spacecraft. XV was proposed under the 2000 Alternate Access to Station program, for both cargo and crew. Titan 23G was selected as the launch vehicle

Titan II was selected due to its high reliability (0 failures in 40 years as an orbital launcher), and stockpile of existing hardware. Though I doubt NASA viewed the prospect of crewrating these junkyard relics favorably, and in reality, restoration cost more than new-build ELVs.

They also advertised rapid-response cargo launch capability, with the vehicle able to remain stacked for years, and final integration only needing hours of work. Titan's ICBM heritage lended itself well to this, but probably no actual need for that capability in the ISS program

Support my work at patreon.com/brickmack

Description

Nearly 40 years after the final Gemini flight, a Titan II once again carries crew to orbit, this time aboard HMX's XV spacecraft. XV was proposed under the 2000 Alternate Access to Station program, for both cargo and crew. Titan 23G was selected as the launch vehicle

Titan II was selected due to its high reliability (0 failures in 40 years as an orbital launcher), and stockpile of existing hardware. Though I doubt NASA viewed the prospect of crewrating these junkyard relics favorably, and in reality, restoration cost more than new-build ELVs.

They also advertised rapid-response cargo launch capability, with the vehicle able to remain stacked for years, and final integration only needing hours of work. Titan's ICBM heritage lended itself well to this, but probably no actual need for that capability in the ISS program

Support my work at patreon.com/brickmack